Pardew says sorry for pushing official

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has apologised to referee’s assistant Stuart Burt after pushing the official during his side’s win over Tottenham.

Pardew was sent to the stands for shoving Burt in the second half of Newcastle’s 2-1 victory after claiming that the ball went out of play during a Tottenham attack.

Hatem Ben Arfa’s penalty gave the Magpies the win after Jermain Defoe has cancelled out Demba Ba’s opener, but the triumph was soured somewhat by the actions of their manager.

“We’re overjoyed about the result but I hold my head in shame,” Pardew said after the match.

“I was just saying to the players (beforehand) about the great Olympics and how to set an example and there’s me pushing the linesman over. It was comical, he just happened to be right in front of me.

“I went in and said I’m sorry (to the referees) and said I would have to apologise publicly too because it was ridiculous.”

Pardew was dismissed shortly after Ba had given Newcastle the lead and had to watch the remainder of the match from the stands.

He could now face a touchline ban or a fine from the Football Association as a result.

Meanwhile, Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas said Tottenham would step up their search for a new striker next week.

Villas-Boas was quick to praise his current squad but insisted that the club will look to reinforce their forward options before the end of the transfer window, with Brazilian forward Leandro Damiao and Emmanuel Adebayor long-touted for potential switches to White Hart Lane.

“We’ll continue to look at strengthening our squad,” the former Chelsea manager said.

“We now have to switch our focus onto the coming games, and do what we have to do in our search for one more striker.

“We’ve been very active in searching for a striking solution, but it hasn’t happened for one reason or another. I’m confident we can close it down in the next couple of days.”

Ba, who has also been linked with Tottenham throughout the summer transfer window, opened the scoring for Newcastle with a well-taken goal, before Ben Arfa sealed victory for the hosts from the penalty spot.

While Villas-Boas seemed to accept the decision to award the spot-kick, he was left to rue his defence’s failure to close down the Senegalese striker before he got his shot off.

“We could’ve done better on closing down Ba, but he’s obviously a top goal-scorer and in that split second he made the difference,” he said.

“For the penalty, Ben Arfa goes through two players and makes it difficult for the referee, but he gives it.

“I think we did (deserve more), we played very well. We had most of the chances in the first half and continued to push in the second.

“When we had momentum, we gave the penalty, but I think we deserved to get something extra for the opportunities we created and the possession we had.”

Luka Modric’s switch to Real Madrid is set to be concluded in the coming week, although Villas-Boas insisted he had no role in the negotiations.

“He is another situation that is on the chairman’s hands, and he tells me that negotiations are on-going, so could happen soon,” he said.